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Literature of Marginal పీపుల్ గుర్రం సీతారాములు
Literature is basically secondary because it is reactionary, Foucault’s Function of the literature suggests that we stop treating literature as a sacralized object that stands separate from above the politics of culture, and that instead we treat literature as a part of a cultural/political field. Literature then becomes available as a tool for examining cultural and political processes. This is unfortunate that now a days in modern domain some reactionary literature is being Marginalized. We can find how power operates through hegemony to decide central and Marginal. It has several dimensions one can experience the humiliation in the name of haves and have-nots, one can experience in the name of Gender , and in the name of Racial discrimination. For instance In Kenya the native peoples were driven to revolt by segregation, exploitation and theft their lands. The colonizers were reluctant to give equal pay for equal work. They are Marginalized in the name of skill “A skilled minor is one who has a white face” according to Peter Abrahams in “Return to Goli.” When a white miner does a drilling job, it becomes a skilled job. When a black miner does it, it is unskilled”. Dominated western societies saying that gave civilization to the African countries “To civilize the savages” such words used by the colonizer to justify their invasion of the so called Dark Continent. Rene Maran attacked in the preface of Batouala: “Civilization, civilization, pride of Europeans and their slaughters- house of innocence, Rabindranath Tagore the Indian poet once, in Tokyo told what you are! You build your Kingdome on corpse. Whatever you wish whatever you wish. In Indian literary history and theory as well as the teaching of Indian literature, are spectacularly silent about Dalith literature. Yet Dalith cultural and
Critical production makes a significant critical intervention in the thinking and writing about Indian society, history culture and literature Though Dalith literature if powerful., but it is being marginalized by the Dominant upper caste Hindu fundamentalists.
Arjun Dangle, the Marathi Dalith writer, editor, and activist, says, ‘Dalith literature is marked by revolt and negativism, since it is closely associated with the hopes for freedom by a group of people who as untouchables are victims of social, economic and cultural inequality’ Dangle traces the origin of dalith literature to Ambedkar ‘His revolutionary ideas stirred into action all the Daliths of Maharastra and gave them a new self- respect. Dalith literature is nothing but the literary expression of this awareness
Peoples those who are Lesbians, gays Homosexuals Transsexuals are thrown a way from mainstream literary discourse. In this paper I would like elaborate the literature of the Marginalized people with reference to Afro American literature.
A person may become marginal because of change demographic, caste, religion, and regional patterns, even with in his/her own caste he/ she may be marginal because of consideration of the sub caste for their consideration it may seem, yet the person may be marginal but being a member of religious majority he may be centered even when we move from one locality to another locality in the same place on the same day or even hour the margin and center identities or categories keep shifting. Making it difficult for any one to conclude if these identities draw the barer draws them
The question of Margin or Marginal, Marginalized/ Marginalization is related to identity to self. Identity and self and individual have been major concerns of individualistic societies like the west and not India where inhalation or surrender of the self has been the ideal to achieve. Now a days Marginality become Universal phenomena one can become marginalize in the name of the Caste, region religion, or Gender. Seldom can we find these voices discussed any ware. The last twenty years has witnessed an explosive growth of interest in African literature as well as Marginal literature. There has been an outpouring of anthologies, papers and book length studies. This kind of the African Literature continuous to grow, and there is every reason to believe that the voice of the African writers will be heard and studied for a long time to come, as artist social analysts and literary critic. But with in the Afro American literature Woman writers are being marginalized.
In this way the women writers of Africa are the other voices, the unheard voice rarely discussed and seldom accorded space or time for African women writers on the continent has come a tradition, implicit rather than formally stated. Bell hooks a renowned Afro American Feminist Ideologue and a distinguished professor of English at city College University of New York. In her book “Feminist Theory from Margin to center” criticized western domination in with in the women liberation movement in United States. She said “There are white women who had never considered resisting male domination until the feminist movement created an awareness that they could and should “ Her awareness of feminist struggle was stimulated by social circumstance, she grew up in Southern black Father dominated, working class house hold she experienced (her mother, sister and her brother) various dangers of patriarchal tyranny and it made her angry and raised her question the politics of male domination enabled her resist sexist socialization.
She says” how has the women been depicted in literature? This is the crucial question that needs our attention. Since literature reflects the socio cultural realities, the depiction of the women in literature has been according to the social status enjoyed by the women, but the status of the women has not been the same at all times and all societies there fore it is difficult to make organized generalized statements which would be universally valid. Yet by and large women all over the world have enjoyed a secondary status Visa-a vis men.” The tremendous blossoming of the women writers in Africa after the 1960’s has led to a vigorous questioning of Eurocentric masculinist world view. The literary fashion of ignoring women writers has been challenged by voices which were virtually unheard till a few decades ago.” She provoked discussion between among the blocks and white women about the issue of racism and American feminism. It represented one of few efforts at black feminist analysis; and it was accessible to people outside of academics.
To be in the margin is to be part of the whole but outside of the main body. It explores, that the masses of the poor and minority women are marginal to feminist activism and theory building, her analysis of how racial sexual and class and class oppression are inextricably intermingled proves to be powerfully illuminating. She provides comprehensive well documented critique of contemporary American feminism. Most of issues considered to be to a feminist agenda are addressed female sexual oppression.
She also explodes why black women and other women of color remained alienated from the feminist movement. The reason include a general unfamiliarity with the language and traditions of feminism, the media misrepresentation of feminists the portrayal of all men as enemies and attacks on mother hood and family by some feminists as well as recognition of white women racism. Literature is closely related to society. It has to reflect the Social reality it not only reflect but also shapes the complex ways in which men and women organized themselves, their inter personal relationships and their perceptions of the socio cultural reality . The attitude of the male author towards men and women depicted by him and in his works and the attitude of the characters male and female to one another highlights the gender relationships as well as the authors’ attitude towards these relationships. Literature thus offers the best possibility of expressing the politics of gender. She suggest that how to come up with racial discrimination She says” I have been working to change the way I speak and write, to incorporate in the manner of telling a sense of place , of not just who I am in the present but where I am coming from, the multiple voices with me. I have confronted silence, inarticulateness. When I say then, that these words emerge from suffering, I refer to that personal struggle to name the location from which I came to voice- that space of my theorizing”
Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall Apart “ is the first title in Heinemann’s African writers series at the same time Flora N wapa’s Efru the first novel in the series by a women .
Heinemann’ was the major English publisher of African literature between 1958 and 1986. Flora N wapa was the first Female authored work in the series .The next work in the series by a women “Idu “ also by N wapa, did not appear until 1970, thirty male authored texts later. What are the factors to which the relativity small number of women authors can be attributed? Male bias in education is clearly one such factor.
Colonial policies in Africa favored the education of boys over girls and operated to cut women off from the written world. The same male bias is evident in education in postcolonial Nigeria. The number of women writing in Africa has always been rather small when compared with their male counter parts. The contributions of women to African literature have not been limited to the modern period. Women have always played considerable role, as storytellers and performers, in the oral traditions. The women writers of Africa are the other voices, the unheard voice rarely discussed and seldom accorded space or time for African women writers on the continent has come a tradition, implicit rather than formally stated. The situation in South Africa is similar. It is therefore great importance that black Africans and women and other marginalized people become involved in every spear of South African life. This must especially get involved in African literature. Until recently black African writers were ignored and pushed aside to the periphery.
Jerry Gaffio Wattes In his book “Ameri Baraka “explains about the social marginality He says “A fundamental assumption of this study is that traditional afro American intellectuals have as one of their priorities the re production of themselves as intellectuals. That is black intellectuals want to write and black painters want to paint whatever provides the time and space to write to paint becomes a priority for intellectuals. One of the greatest tensions of twentieth century traditional afro American intellectual life is that the attempts of black intellectuals to flourish were severely hindered by the viciousness of white American racism. For most of the twentieth century black American intellectuals did not have reads access grants fellowships research positions at elite universities or even membership on the editorial boards of the prominent American intellectual journals. The condition of being denied access to the mainstream (i.e. White controlled) intellectuals resources and critical audiences while belonging to an ethnic group that did not have the resources and or educational attainment sufficient to sustain serious traditional intellectual activity placed traditional black intellectuals in unique voice For most of the black intellectuals have been socially marginalized to the white and black communities”.
Ameri Baraka another marginalized voice in afro American writers. He was a poet, play Wright, novelist, fiction writer essayist jazz critic, political reader social activist and Marxist. Jerry Gafio Watts a leading critic of afro American literature in his book “ Amiri Baraka” Of the Afro American artists/ intellectuals who came to prominence during the 1960’s no single figure was more politically active than Le Roi Jones/ Amiri Baraka . More than any other American writer white or black Baraka is the committed artist par excellence from the mid 1960’s and through the mid 1970’s Baraka devoted his artistic skills to the creation of art particularly poetry and drama that affirmed the new assertive militancy of black people. We cannot separate Baraka name when we are discussing about the Black Nationalist movement. Ameri Baraka who was known as LeRoi Jones was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of middle class parents. He demonstrated unusual oratorical skills as a child when he memorized and recited lengthy speeches for family gatherings. He became a gifted student who graduated two years early from high school. Although he received a two year scholarship in 1951 from Rutgers University, He apparently felt an outsider there and transferred to Harvard University. He published his first book of poetry, preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, in 1961. In the year he followed, he wrote numerous plays, poems, and short stories, along with commentaries on literature, music and society. Most of his writing focused on white racism on black liberation during these decades, Jones moved from Greenwich Village to Harlem, and then to New York There his political outlook changed from liberalism to Black Nationalism, then to Marxism- Leninism, and later to socialism. Then he joined the Kawadia branch of the Islamic faith and changed his name Imamu Ameri Baraka.
Throughout these changes he remained a radical spokesman for the black community. Jones arrived at Howard University in Washington, D. C after one year He was shocked particularly by the discrimination among the University students. Lighter-skinned blacks refused to associate with darker- skinned blacks. The students who had come from urban areas like Philadelphia or New York ridiculed those who had come from rural areas in the South. When Jones become a Muslim he discarded his “slave name “ from a traditional African or Islamic one LeRoi Jones became Imamu Ameri Baraka, Which one Biographer has interpreted as meaning spiritual leader Blessed Prince(Hudson p. 34) Baraka Political orientation had changed. He had moved from hollow rhetoric to real politics. Later he realized the limitations of organizing under the banner of Black Nationalism by 1974. His adoption of a Marxist- Leninist Political Philosophy expressed his desire to elevate economics and class to a level equal to that of race. He was convinced that capitalism played a large part in the under development of black Americans and that Nationalism contained serious short comings as a liberation program because it failed to adequately address economic issues.
“The black nationalist movement of the late1960’s and early 1970’s temporarily succeeded in establishing Black Nationalism as a hegemonic ideology in the Afro American intelligentsia. For a brief moment, afro-American intellectuals who were not black nationalists were scrutinized and even labeled ethnically traitorous. Writing in 1960 as a doyen of Black Nationalist movement in afro American arts and letters, Baraka displayed his intolerance of non black intellectuals and artists
The Negro artist who is not a nationalist at this late is white artist, even without knowing it. He is creating death snacks, for and out dead stuff. What he does will not matter because it is in the shadow, connected with the shadow and will die when the shadow dies. The assassination of Malcolm X on February 21 1965, Represented a critical turning point in the life of LeRoi Jones. After the death of Malcolm X, Jones left his wife and children in Greenwich Village in order to join the black Revolution. Further in his identity transformation, Jones married the black actress and dancer Sylvia Robinson of Newark, New Jersey. Symbolizing the depth of Jones’s transformation, the man who buried Malcolm X renamed LeRoi Jones Ameer Barakat, “blessed prince” in Arabic.
Like many other black revolutionaries of that era, Baraka attempted to follow the path out lined by Malcolm X: the most popular themes were those of self determination, self respect, and self defense.
Langston Hughes was perhaps the most wide ranging and persistent black American writer in the twentieth century James Langston Hughes was born to Carrie Langston Hughes and James Nathanial Hughes on February 1 1902 in Joplin. His father moved to Kansas in search of grater racial and financial freedom. “ In 1907 Langston mother took him with her library in Topeka, where he fell in love with books, in part because he was impressed that the library did not have to pay rent .Though the double perspective of boy and man, he recalled: Even before I was six books began to happen to me, so that after a while there came a time when I believed in books more than in people which, of course, was wrong” (Hughes TBS 26) Hughes satirically pictured the deep pathos and hypocrisy in American society Once a black women was seduced by he under taker who enjoyed her favors, she became pregnant but wasn’t sure who was the father. When doctor performed an abortion, the girl died .The undertaker took charge of her body, and the minister preached at her funeral that is also responsible for her death. Hughes re worked the tale into an interracial story that appeared in “The Ways of the white Folks (1934).
“At school, too he was sometimes set apart from other black students He began school in 1908 in Topeka, where he had been temporarily re united with his mother. Carrie successfully appealed to the school board to allow Langston to attend the Harrison Street School, which was more convenient to her residence but which otherwise had only white pupils rather than distant school for Negro children located on the other side of the railroad tracks. However, the boy was harassed by his teacher, who seated him in a black corner, and by some of his classmates, although others befriended him. In one specific incident that Langston long remembered, his teacher confiscated some licorice from one of his classmates. She warned him against eating the black candies: They’ll make you black like Langston. You don’t want to be black, do you?” (Life of Langston Hughes 1:32) In the same school the teacher forced all the black children to sit together in a separate row, Langston made up cards that said JIM CROW ROW and placed them on each desk in the row. When the teacher moved to reprimand him, he ran out of the classroom, yelling that his teacher had a Jim Crow row .Though Hughes was expelled, he was allowed to return to school after protests by several black parents. It indicates even Blacks were not allowed to sit with White students this incident made Langston to start Thinking. He came to know Race plays the vital role in the life.
Steven Carl Tracy in his Book on Langston Hughes “ A historical guide to Langston Hughes “ says “ The Blues I’m Playing “, one of the Hughes’s most carefully developed fictions, express a natural tension between classical and innovative art. The pianist plays her bluesy sound in folk time, but the Persian vases exist in the patron’s drawing groom within elegantly modern space. An interface between history and fiction occurred on October 29 1929, the day the New York stock exchange crashed, ending so many opportunities for publication and artistic performance during the New Negro Movement.
Long stone Hughes one of his early poems described “The time of Martyrdom”
The white man killed my father
My father was proud
The white man raped my mother
My mother was beautiful
The white man bent my brother under the High way sun
My brother was strong
The white man turned toward me
His hands red with black blood
And in the voice of a master:
Hey boy! bring me whisky, a napkin, and some water!
In those days
When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
The vultures built in the shadow of their
Bibliography:
1. Baraka, Imam Ameri. The autobiography of LeRoi Jones. New York Freundlich Books .1984.
2. Baraka, Imamu Ameri. LeRoi Jones Reader William J Harries New York Thunder’s mouth press, 1991.
3. Cook, Mercer and Stephen E. Henderson. The militant Black Writer in Africa and the United states, Madison: Wisconsin Press, 1967.
